Juneteenth and Father's Day: A Weekend to Celebrate!

This past weekend was one for honoring the men in our lives, particularly those who helped make our very existence possible. The courage and perseverance of our ancestors who fought for our rights, stood up to injustice, and worked tirelessly for our betterment is vividly portrayed in the following short biographies of some lesser-known but outstanding St. Louisans. We wrote recently about Archer Alexander and John Berry Meachum; if you missed that post, you can find it here. And now we hope you enjoy learning about the contributions of some additional important men of color.

Father Moses Dickson

Born in Cincinnati in 1824, Moses was a free Black man who lost both of his parents before he was out of his teens. He trained as a barber, and after the death of his parents, he wandered the south, mostly working on steamships and observing the injustices of slavery. In 1846, he met with a group of friends in St. Louis to organize a secret society called the Knights of Liberty. Its original purpose was to end slavery with a national insurrection, and the group worked in almost every Southern state recruiting men to rebel. However, by the mid-1850s, it was clear that the country was going to explode, and they decided to postpone their rebellion. Moses told his minions to hang on, be patient, and wait.

Meanwhile, his Knights worked the Underground Railroad, ultimately freeing thousands of enslaved people. During the Civil War, many of the Knights, including Dickson, joined the Union Army. After the war ended, he became an ordained minister of the African Methodist Episcopalian Church and a Freemason. He started schools for Black children and worked to find Black teachers for the schools. He was a co-founder of today's Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1879, Rev. Dickson became president of the Refugee Relief Board, sheltering thousands of former slaves as they migrated from the South into other parts of the country. He and his wife founded several fraternal organizations, two of which dedicated a cemetery in Crestwood, Missouri, to him two years after he died in 1901.

George L. Vaughn

George was born in Kentucky in 1880 to former slaves. He earned his law degree from Walden University in Nashville, Tennessee, and went on to serve as a first lieutenant in World War I. As an attorney, he became "a towering figure" in St. Louis politics. He was instrumental in promoting Black candidates to office, was the first president of the Mound City Bar Association, and in 1945, was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court.  He became legal counsel in a landmark Supreme Court case, Shelly v. Kraemer, in 1948, which struck down restrictions on where African Americans could live, ending the use of "racially restrictive covenants." He was a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention and a justice of the peace in St. Louis. After his death, the George L. Vaughn Public Housing Project in St. Louis was named for him, although that complex has since been torn down.

Charles Henry Turner

This brilliant man was born in Cincinnati in 1867 and, after graduating as valedictorian of his high school in 1886, he became the first African American to receive a graduate degree at the University of Cincinnati. He went on to earn a PhD from the University of Chicago, magna cum laude, in 1907. He supported himself and his family by becoming a teacher in St. Louis at Sumner High School, from 1908 until he retired in 1922. During that time, he published almost fifty papers on invertebrates, especially ants and bees. He is credited as the first scientist to prove that insects can hear, learn, and distinguish patterns. He is known as a zoologist and entomologist and was one of the first scientists to determine that animals are more complex than was previously thought. He was also active in pursuing educational rights for African American students; Turner Middle School in St. Louis was named for him.

Homer Gilliam Phillips

If you've lived in St. Louis for any length of time, you undoubtedly have heard of the hospital named for this early Civil Rights leader. Born in Sedalia, Missouri, in 1880, after completing his education, including a law degree from Howard University, he taught for a while and then moved to St. Louis, where he began to practice law and become involved in politics, working to end injustice. 

In 1928, he served as president of the St. Louis chapter of the National Bar Association. He helped to secure more than a million dollars for construction of the hospital which would be named for him. At a time when Blacks struggled for decent medical care, this hospital would become a beacon of hope on the city's North Side.

He had a long career cut short abruptly in June 1931 when he was murdered by two young men. Although no one has ever been able to determine why, it's been speculated that he was the victim of an assassination. Construction of the Homer G. Phillips Hospital began a year after Phillips's murder, and the hospital opened to great fanfare on 22 February 1937.

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All of these men were married and three of them were fathers. All worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others in spite of hardship and prejudice. One died for his dedication. A belated Happy Father's Day to all fathers who sacrifice so much for their own families and for the future of others.

For More Information

"Charles Henry Turner (zoologist), Wikipedia, June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Henry_Turner_%28zoologist%29

"George L. Vaughn," Wikipedia, March 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_L._Vaughn

"Homer G. Phillips," Wikipedia, March 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_G._Phillips

"Homer G. Phillips and His Hospital," by Cameron Collins, Distilled History, 13 September 2013, https://www.distilledhistory.com/homergphillips/

"Moses Dickson," Wikipedia, March 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Dickson